The shared online application for all US vet schools opens in early June. The deadline for completing it is 1 October. Successful applicants will start their studies in Fall 2015. It's a laborious process all around--for the applicants, for the admissions committees of the schools. Check out the VMCAS website to get an idea...
There is a handful of Canadian, UK, and European universities whose vet programs have been accredited by the AVMA, so degrees earned at those schools are acceptable for use here in the US (assuming you pass your board exam). These schools also use the VMCAS application. Not all of them are open to US applicants, however. Utrecht, for example, requires fluency in Dutch. They will accept US applicants but how many of those are going to be fluent in Dutch?
Out of the 29 vet schools in the US plus the dozen or so international schools, I certainly seem to have a lot of choices. When I go through the VMCAS process, I have to specify which schools I want to send the application information to. Of course there is a cost for each one you select (around $100). And some schools have supplemental application materials that you have to complete by the same deadline. So you need to have made some decisions before you begin the application process.
It should be no surprise to you to learn that not all programs are the same. The "glamour" of Big Name U on your diploma is not really all that important once you get into the workplace. Paying more doesn't mean you get more.
I've been tossing around some criteria in my head for some time that I could use to select schools at which I think I could be happy and successful. Some things are straightforward: tuition, class size, how many seats go to residents versus non-residents, how many applications total are received and how many offers are made (potential success rate). Others are less obvious: location. Others are subjective: curriculum, or rather, do I get excited about the possibilities when I read through a school's DVM curriculum? Is the school's website informative and useful?
Being the anal type, I made a spread sheet. Color coded, ranked, calculated success percentages, costs of living in that particular location, notes on curriculum.
I eliminated quite a few schools on the basis of tuition (Minnesota charges more than $54,000 per year to out-of-state students), class size (more than 250 enter each year at Purdue), and location (I wouldn't live or go to school in Florida, Alabama, or Mississippi if you gave me a free ride on tuition and a million dollars).
Other schools that looked good with respect to class size or tuition dropped in my ranking because their curriculum wasn't inspiring me. It's kind of hard to evaluate that right now--I'm still not sure what kind of vet I want to be. But believe me, once you start putting those things side-by-side, differences do become obvious.
I've managed to whittle my short list down to six schools. I'd like to narrow that further to just four by the time I begin the VMCAS.
You'll notice that residency was not one of my criteria. It originally was, of course, but I'm not entirely sure what state I am a legal resident of. Certainly not Oregon. But the vet schools in the two states concerned fell to the bottom of my ranking so it became a moot point.
I am hoping that you, my five loyal readers, might be able to provide me some new insights based on personal knowledge of the schools or at least the geographic areas of the schools on my short list.
In no order, they are: OSU, University of Wisconsin, Cornell, Tufts, North Carolina State, and University of Illinois. All over the map, literally, in terms of location and program.
4 comments:
I wish I could offer constructive commentary, but in this case all I'm good for is throwing darts. Not that it matters at all, but we'll be up there in August. We're doing a Rogue River trip with our Oregon friends, and I'm staying for a month or so to help Leah renovate her kitchen.
Duwain
Do Harry, Mimi, and Azza get to vote? My judgment would begin with geography because I sense that the reputation of the school isn't very important.
The dogs certainly get a vote. The reputation of the school might be a factor in some cases but all of the schools on my short list have excellent track records. Cornell is by far the heaviest hitter of the bunch but I don't have any concerns about the others. OSU might have a slightly higher ranking for CircusK9 simply because *we am already here*. A LOT less aggravation, right? And the dogs just love it here.
Chainsaw, have any comments on geography? I went to Cornell for a visit, many years ago. Ithaca is very pretty. I don't know much about the other places.
BTW, I should clarify: I don't like living in large cities; Portland being 70 miles north is just fine with me. I also like cold weather.
I was thinking more on this matter of school reputation. There aren't any US vet schools that have an awful reputation. It's really a matter of what you are looking for. Some schools specialize in large animals. Some schools have tracks for zoo and wildlife vets. Some place a heavy emphasis on shelter medicine (small animal). But even with this variation, there is a reasonably high standard of education across the set. Even if you want to be a small animal vet but go to a school that emphasizes large animals, you'll still get reasonable training and be prepared to work with small animals when you finish.
The great majority of applicants apply ONLY to the vet school in the state in which they reside (states without vet schools usually have arrangements with a nearby state that does). It's nearly always purely financial.
Things like class size, location, and program details NEVER enter into their decision.
Being rootless, or rather, having roots spread out so far and wide that they claim no particular spot, and encumbered only by the dogs, I have the luxury of choosing where I'd like to go.
Doesn't mean my short list schools will accept me, of course. My chances are not zero but they are small no matter where I apply.
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